


worth it

by pastelish



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, One Shot, Other dream members are only mentioned, Sorry Not Sorry, warning: this is very cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 03:50:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9417257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelish/pseuds/pastelish
Summary: Jisung stared. Chenle felt like he was falling— not in a good way —and wanted deeply to dig himself into the ground and disappear off the face of the earth.In which Chenle is stubborn and Renjun just wants Jisung and Chenle together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Chenle/Jisung fic on AO3, I think?? Well, the first one with chensung as the main ship lmaoo,, Also Jisung apparently refers to Chenle with 'ge' instead of 'hyung'; (basically means the same thing as hyung but in Chinese) I just wanted to mention to clear up any confusion. ^ ^" 
> 
> I've been writing this for a while and I finally finished it so I hope you guys will enjoy!

The piano keys were heavy against Chenle's fingertips, notes unable to find the right rhythm like any other day. Words ran through his mind: cold, lifeless, and he found it strangely amusing for he could relate to the given characteristics. The soft melody filled the room with the song once more, accompanied with Chenle's singing, blending it together and creating harmony.

It was a good sound and his vocals were in great condition, but something just didn't feel right, a cog that didn't fit, unabling all the other pieces to move. Eventually, his singing and notes slowed before coming to a pause. His mind accepted the fact that practicing was futile with his current situation, eyes glaring at the black and white rows.

It had already been a week and he was still working on the same verse from before. The lack of progress irritated Chenle because he usually worked much faster on a normal day. Attempting to release tension, Chenle stretched his arms. He examined his open palms, moving his hands to slide against the sleek black finishing.

Someone knocked. He stilled, eyebrows furrowing but not looking away from the keys. There was a gap of silence and then another knock.

"Chenle-yah?"

Although he barely heard it, he recognized the voice as Renjun. The younger boy frowned. He knew exactly why he was here.

"Chenle isn't in the room, sorry,"

He didn't hear anything for a second. "I found more of those rice crackers you like so much in the back of the fridge,"

Chenle glanced at the door in consideration.

"That's not enough for me to let you in, you know,"

"I'm giving them to Haechan-ah if you don't,"

The younger boy slumped before trudging over. He cracked the door open and peered at Renjun, examining the container in his hands. After some hard contemplation and a brief stare down, he reluctantly let him in.

Both boys sat down on the couch beside the piano as Chenle took the container and began to munch on the snacks. Renjun looked at him, waiting for something. He was probably already on his fifth rice cracker by the time he forced himself to acknowledge the other boy's overt staring.

"You can't avoid this forever."

A munch.

"I can avoid this however long I want,"

He refused to look him in the eye.

"And why is that?"

He kept his lips shut, intentionally keeping his mouth full of food. He swallowed.

"I don't know,"

"You should know," Renjun stated. "I  _know_  you know."

This conversation was feeling more like an interrogation, but that wasn't anything new. At least, with how his conversations have been with the older recently.

"You need to talk to him eventually,"

Silence.

Renjun sighs.

"Chenl—"

"I'm not going to talk to him, okay?" Chenle cut him off, voice sharp. The older boy said nothing; Chenle glanced over to see why, but it was an action he soon regretted. Renjun was staring at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open, and eyes soft in what he honestly thought looked like pity.

He looked away in embarrassment. Did he say that too harshly? He hadn't meant for it to sound so aggressive.

After a moment, Renjun stood up from the sofa and made his way to the door. Chenle attempted to reach for him with a hand, expression ridden with guilt. The older boy was stepping through the door when Chenle blurted.

"I'm sorry, hyung,"

Renjun stopped and Chenle held his breath. Thankfully, he peeked his head back into the room to shoot him a tight but warm smile before closing the door behind him. The soft thud of the door resounded in his head as he dropped his arm.

Chenle's gut wrenched. Well, now he felt bad. He supposed this is what he gets when he chose to act so childish. Chenle caught the sigh before it came out of his throat, noting his excessive use of it as of late. He made a mental note for himself to apologize to Renjun later for his outburst after putting the rice crackers away, mood too unsettled to continue eating, and situated himself on the piano bench as punishment. Chenle closed his eyes, fingers instinctively positioning in play for the first note.

The song begun to play in his mind. His closed eyes let him imagine where his fingers will go, the right keys to press, the right notes to sing, and the right octave to sing it in. But then Chenle's mind drifted to  _him_ , and suddenly he can't play because it feels like a hand had taken hold of his heart and squeezed, so his mind wanders.

* * *

 

It happened almost a week ago in the afternoon when the group was getting ready to eat dinner. Chenle had pulled Jisung aside and whispered, "Can you come to my room later? I need to talk about something," Jisung wanted to ask why, but Chenle was already sitting down before he could react. After eating, Chenle shot the other boy a look and Jisung trailed nervously behind him.

Along the walk to his room, a million possibilities buzzed in Jisung's brain as to why he would need to privately talk to the older member. Did he accidentally eat one of Chenle's snacks? Did he say something wrong? Did he do something to him?

Jisung hears the sound of the door closing and a click, realizing the gravity of the situation too late.

The older sighs. "Ok, so—"

"Did I do something?"

Chenle blinks. "What? No, no, Jisung-ah, you didn't do anything wrong." A dismissive wave of his hand quickly extinguishes all of Jisung's fears and he sees that in the way his shoulders slump in relief. "I just... wanted to talk."

Jisung tilts his head, an innocent action that makes the older feel like melting.

"Uuuuhhhhhhh, It's—" He interrupted himself, feeling his face already beginning to flush. "Ok, this might sound weird— actually, yes —this, th-this is going to sound weird, I just really wanted to get it off my chest."

The looks the younger gave him made him realize he was rambling. Chenle paused. He needed to calm down, recollect his thoughts, so he heaved a sigh and steeled his nerves.

"Jisung-ah, I..."

Chenle gulped.

"I like you."

Jisung stared. Chenle felt like he was falling— not in a good way —and wanted deeply to dig himself into the ground and disappear off the face of the earth. A few more seconds passed, both stock still, like two opponents faced in a stalemate, waiting for the other's move. Then, something clicked in the younger's head.

"Oh, I like you too."

Chenle gaped, but shook his head. "No, no, I mean I like you as in,  _like_ , like you _."_

" _Like_ , like..."

...

"Oh."

All he heard was silence. The younger's face looked shocked, but that was it. He wasn't blushing, speaking, or stuttering.

_No, no, no, no, no, no._ Chenle couldn't bear to look at Jisung anymore. _I knew it_. He was so excited to tell him about this, for his growing crush to be reciprocated, but honestly, what did he expect? He had known he was reading too much into it. He knew he didn't like hi—

Chenle didn't want to finish the sentence. Suddenly, he could feel Jisung's hand on his arms, steadying him? And the younger seemed very worried.

_Am I shaking?_ He grit his teeth in a grimace.  _You're embarrassing yourself even more._

Jisung's hands tightened around his arms, but Chenle brushed them off.

The older wouldn't dare take a glance at Jisung's face again, bowing his head to avoid looking at him. "I'm sorry for this, it's okay if you want to pretend this never happened."

_Because I want to..._

He stormed out of the room, feeling immaturely like a child, and kept his head down the entire time. The last thing he heard was Jisung's call for his name before he shut the door and cut off any unspoken thoughts lingering in the atmosphere of his confession.

* * *

 

Chenle's mind stops wandering, his hands lifting off the keys and falling to his sides. He needed to stop resurfacing that day because remembering it would ultimately make him unproductive. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Chenle felt like crying. The wetness of his eyes prickled his skin and he frantically wiped at them before any tears could fall. Not here. Not now.

The door creaked open and closed shut.

He sighs and says, "Renjun hyung, I'm sorry for acting like that but you should know I'm not going to talk to hi—"

Chenle jumps. He could feel warm hands covering his eyes and he immediately recognizes them from the amount of times he had compared them to his.

"Is the person you're not going to talk to me?"

Chenle quickly spun around and the hands let go of its hold. The older teen gaped at none other than Jisung, the boy who had been on his mind ever since he first met him. Wait. But why was he in the room? He was sure he'd locked it.

_Oh_. Chenle gave himself a mental kick to the shin. He knew he shouldn't have let Renjun in. He went and left the door open for Jisung.

A _nd I forgot to lock it._

The older boy stands upright, the piano chair almost toppling over at the abrupt move. "Umm, hey Jisung-ah.." he gave an awkward smile, "I'm sorry, but I just remembered I actually need to go somewhere right now so..." He swiftly slides past his frame, legs taking him as fast as he could to the door.

"Ah!" Jisung failed to grab Chenle's arm as he sped past. The younger boy had finally cornered the other to talk to him and he was not going to let him go that easy. His mind frantically searched for something, anything to make him stay. He blinked in realization, knowing exactly what to say.

"You told Renjun hyung that you'd do anything to keep our friendship the way it was, so why have you just been avoiding me?"

Chenle stopped in his tracks, a deer in headlights.

He remembered. Wow, he did say that. But of course, Renjun would've talked to Jisung about this. He looked down, seeing he was just a step away from leaving, his feet rooted on the exact spot between suffering and salvation, one step was all it would take for him to escape for the second time.

"Look, Jisung-ah, Ireally need to get going, I uh—" Excuse. Excuse. What was an excuse.

He turned around, but made sure not to look directly at him. "Mark hyung told me to go pick something up at the store,"

Jisung frowns.

"I'll be back and you can tell me what you want to say later, okay?"

"No, just  _listen_ ,"

"Sorry, Jisu—" Chenle opened the door to leave. Suddenly he stopped, feeling a hard tug on his sleeve.

"Don't leave,"

Chenle paused. His heart felt like it was getting smashed into a million pieces.

He tugged harder. "Please, ge,"

The oldest tensed.

He could leave.

And he  _should_  leave. But.

His lips were sealed shut for a long moment before he reluctantly closed the door and turned around. The immense relief on Jisung's face made Chenle feel bad for even making him put up that much effort to have a conversation. But then he remembered why he wanted to avoid this as long as he could, but he still felt bad.

Jisung gestured Chenle to sit down on the bed and he did.

Once they were settled, Jisung raised the question.

"Can you first tell me why you've been avoiding me?"

Chenle regretted staying. He should've bolted right out the door before Jisung could make him feel bad and force him to stay. He should've just squashed his feelings down months before his confidence had the chance to build up. He should've done a lot of things, but he didn't. Maybe this was his punishment, one way or another.

"Chenle ge?" Jisung was staring at him. Why? Oh yeah, he asked a question. A question he didn't want to answer.

It wasn't helping that Jisung was being cute again. Him just sitting there was enough to make his heart race with his soft skin, cute smile, nice l _ip_ — No. He hated this. He looked away from his face and began to study his hands. The hands that will always be at least two times larger than his; the hands that must be nice to hold during winter. Ugh.  _No_.  _S_ _top thinking of him like that._

Chenle forced himself to ponder the question again because Jisung is expecting him to say something. He looked anywhere except him, but he already knew the answer. The answer is that he doesnt want to hear the confirmation, the easy way he would be let down, and probably the small obligatory pat on the back to make him feel better. He knows and he was scared of facing it.

"I'm not letting you leave until you answer."

Chenle scoffed on the inside.  _I_ _could've just left earlier if I wanted to..._

He heaved a big sigh, daring a glance at his face. He was looking down at him even if they were sitting down. It reminded him that Jisung was taller than him, his growth spurt physically aging him considerably. He looked at his own palms to stop his rambling mind.

"I..." Chenle tangled his hands together. "I was scared.."

Jisung raised a brow in confusion. That wasn't one of the things he had expected to come out of his mouth.

"Scared of what?"

The older asked honestly. "Well, what do you think?"

"I dont know,"

Chenle pouted, it was hard to say anything. He could run out of the room right now if he wanted to, it's not like there was a lock outside the door, but Jisung's concern and seriousness kept him rooted on the spot.

He inhaled hard. "I was scared of rejection, there, I said it."

"What?"

Chenle's frown softened to a sad tight-lipped smile. "I don't want to hear you say that you don't...  _like_  me back; that's why I've been avoiding you all week." He struggled with his sentences, mouth spilling out things he had been holding in since his confession.

"I knew I shouldn't have confessed to you in the first place, but I got overconfident and thought it was actually mutual. I'm really sorry, Jisung-ah. I didn't want it to turn out this way, I was being dumb and I hope you can forgive me for making it awkward between us too. I just—"

"Chenle ge,"

The brunette stopped rambling. He was acutely aware of the dampness of his eyes and he quickly blinked it away.

"What are you saying?"

He refused to look at Jisung. One glance was all it would take for him to start bawling. Chenle clenched his eyes shut, jarring his head away when he saw Jisung lean forward in his peripherals.

"Ge," Jisung shook one of his arms. "Please look at me,"

"No, I can't,"

" _Please_ ," Jisung pleaded, a slight whine mingled in his voice. "If you listen and look at me just this once, I'll let you leave,"

Chenle considered his options, his eyes eventually opening to stare at the floor, before finally facing forward and looking Jisung face to face. It took him all his willpower not to break down in front of him right then. He could do that  _after_  Jisung confirms and lets him go.

"I..." Jisung looked down and took Chenle's hands into his own. His gaze moved back up to the other teen's confused one.

"I like you."

Chenle's eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Wait. What?

Did he just hear what he thought he'd heard or was his mind so out of it that he had created something— so real looking —in his mind to tide over his sadness?

But, no.

He reached over to touch Jisung's arm. No, Jisung  _felt_  real. He didn't know anymore. There were so many alarms and signals going off in his head, he couldn't even begin to comprehend words.

"I?.. but you..?"

Jisung looked down embarrassed. "I didn't know what to say when you told me how you felt because I was so shocked and you left before I could even say anything. So I asked Renjun hyung and the others and thought about it and... I understand now." His grip tightened around Chenle's smaller hands.  _Warm_. "I'm sorry I made you feel like this for a week.. I needed time to think and you kept avoiding me—"

"..You... You like.. me?..." Chenle's voice was small, his gaze set on their entwined hands.

Jisung blinked, "...yeah, I like yo—"

"Ah—!" Before Jisung could even finish his sentence, Chenle had leaped forward and wrapped his arms around the younger teen. Jisung flushed slightly from the sudden contact as Chenle's grip around his neck and shoulders tightened.

Jisung's hands reached up to hug him back. "Ge?"

Chenle sighed into his neck. "...So you really do like me...?"

Jisung swallowed and nodded weakly. "Yeah, that's what I've been telling you,"

The older teen let go of Jisung briefly to look at him in the eye, lips stretching to a wide smile. "Why didn't you just tell me then?"

Jisung's face flushed. The bright beam of the grin, which was all directed towards him, caught him off guard, brain managing a small, "Uhh.."

Chenle's face lit up at his reaction, giggles escaping his throat. Just then, Jisung saw something sparkle in his eyes. He moved his hands from Jisung's neck to his shoulders and let the other teen's back meet the bed.

"Wait, Chenle ge, why—" Jisung quieted when Chenle placed a quick peck on his nose. He could feel his face heating up even more. A quick scan of the other and he saw Chenle looked just as flushed. Chenle moved his hands to cup both sides of Jisung's face and slowly, he leaned down and begun to place multiple kisses on his skin.

Jisung couldn't supress the laugh from bubbling out of his throat. "Ge?"

From in between his own giggling and kissing, Chenle answered, "I'm making up for all the times I wanted to kiss your squishy face,"

"How much is that?" The younger teen inquired.

Chenle stopped kissing him to ponder. He hummed, "I guess you're staying here for a while,"

"What? No..!" Jisung replied jokingly, laughter overtaking his frame. "Renjun hyung promised he'd share that new ice cream with us today!"

Chenle begun to press kisses on his cheeks, his laughter growing louder with every peck. "It can wait,"

From outside, both boys' laughter and giggles could be heard, although a bit muffled. Two other teens positioned at the door relaxed, their plastic cups lowering, used supposedly to amplify the sound from the other side.

"Awww," Jaemin, one of the said onlookers, glanced over at his acomplice, a small smile on his lips.

Haechan, the other onlooker, pumped a fist, "Mission: Get Maknaes, Jisung-ie and Chenle-yah, to make up, success," He looked at Jaemin and gave a hand gesture, pointing two fingers up and out to the living room.

The younger teen scoffed jokingly, "Mission: success, so there's no need to use ambiguous hand symbols, Haechan hyung,"

"Shut up and be respectful to your elder agents, agent Jaemin-ie," Haechan whispered back.

Jaemin rolled his eyes with a smile and walked to the living room right after the older.

Renjun was rifling through the fridge, he assumed to look for a snack. He saw Jeno and Mark sitting on the couch watching TV as Haechan posed in front of it, further announcing to the world the results of their secret 'mission'. Jaemin filled them in on what occurred, relief washing over the group at the two finally resolving things.

Renjun approached them to sit on the couch, a tub of ice cream and five spoons in hand. He sighed, looking the most relieved of all of them. "Finally, I thought they'd never make up at that rate," The boy proceeded to squish himself into the middle of the remaining room on the couch, handing out all the spoons to the others.

The other boys nodded in unison, settling down to watch the program playing on the TV.

From around the hall, the two boys had stopped their small kissing spree and were laid down on the couch, talking about things and what to do with their relationship at hand.

"Ge," Jisung fondly traced circles on the back of Chenle's hand. "Should we tell the others?"

Chenle hummed, "I don't think we need to, at least not right now. I know some of them could probably already tell something was going on between us and if they didn't, Renjun hyung would've probably mentioned it at some point." He smiled then. "Plus, you were going around asking relationship advice to the other members, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was and you're right," He nodded, and giggled. "I need to thank Renjun hyung for helping me out with this,"

Chenle cracked a smile. "I do too,"

But then, he thought of Jisung's apology earlier, of how he had avoided him for a week, and how they could've gotten over this if he wasn't so stubborn and actually sat down to talk.

"I'm sorry," It was soft and Chenle was surprised he heard.

"For what?"

"I made you wait, because I kept avoiding you,"

"It was worth it," Jisung smiled into his hair. " _You_  were worth it."

Chenle couldn't supress himself from snorting as he lightly pushed at Jisung's face, lips drawn up in a grin. "Shut up, you're so cheesy,"

Jisung giggled in return, taking Chenle's hand hovering over his face and holding it.

After a moment, Chenle yawned and snuggled up to Jisung's chest, enjoying the moment as much as he could. Jisung wrapped his arms around him and shifted around a bit to get more comfortable. Soon, the brunette began to chuckle to himself as he held his ear close to other boy's chest.

"Your heart is beating really fast,"

Jisung tightened his grip in response, Chenle's laughter muffling into his sweater.

Eventually, both fell asleep on the couch with only a few more rounds of teasing from Chenle and a single pun from Jisung despite his embarrassment. Their soft breathing filled the warm silence of the room, safely cuddled in each other's embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like Renle as a brotp so you'll see a lot of it if I write more NCT stuff in the future. *finger guns* I haven't written something seriously in ages, so sorry if some parts were off!! Feedback is very much appreciated. 
> 
> You can also find me at chensungs on tumblr drawing and screaming about NCT, thank you~


End file.
